Edinburgh's Menzies on the ascent with Air Canada wins at two major airports

Menzies, the Edinburgh-headquartered global aviation services group, has renewed a “significant” ground services contract with Air Canada at Heathrow Airport, the UK’s busiest hub.

The firm has also won new business with the same Canadian carrier at Copenhagen Airport.

Air Canada has once again chosen Menzies to deliver passenger, ramp, cabin cleaning and lounge services at Heathrow, the airline’s largest airport operation internationally.

With a long-term duration, the renewal is expected to see the Scots group support 3,700 “aircraft turns” per annum, as Air Canada returns to pre-pandemic flight volumes at the London hub.

In addition, Menzies has won a new contract to provide passenger, ramp, cabin cleaning and de-icing services for Air Canada at Copenhagen.

Air Canada is a global customer for the capital firm, which serves the carrier in locations across Europe, the Americas and Australia.

Miguel Gomez, executive vice president, Europe, Menzies Aviation, said: “We are proud to build on our partnership with Air Canada at Heathrow Airport and win a new contract at Copenhagen Airport. Air Canada is a global customer for Menzies and these latest awards are a testament to our teams, who deliver safe, secure and efficient services day in, day out for our customers.”

Bosses at Menzies recently accepted a takeover offer by a Kuwaiti firm, creating a business with a combined global headcount of 35,000.

Air Canada is a global customer for Edinburgh-headquartered Menzies Aviation.

John Menzies started out in 1833 when its eponymous founder opened a bookshop at 61 Princes Street, Edinburgh. The newspaper and magazine distribution business was spun out in 2018, creating Menzies Distribution, and leaving the rest of the firm to focus on providing aviation services globally.

Earlier this month, Menzies Aviation secured a series of contract wins at Los Angeles International Airport, its largest location in the Americas.

The firm has secured a new contract with Level, IAG’s low-cost airline, to provide full ground services at Los Angeles, also known by its code LAX. Menzies now provides complete coverage to the IAG Group of airlines at LAX, including British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus and now Level.

The firm has also been awarded a contract with Mexican cargo carrier MAS to support its daily freighter flights. Bosses said this win “further solidifies” the company as the preferred ramp handler for freighter aircraft at Los Angeles.

Additionally, Menzies and LATAM Group’s global relationship “continues to go from strength to strength” with the former extending its ramp handling contract and adding full passenger handling to the list of services for the Latin American airline’s twice daily flights at LAX.

The group operates at more than 210 airports in 38 countries, supported by a global team of 27,000 people.

In 2021, Menzies Aviation handled some 600,000 aircraft turns, some 1.7 million tonnes of cargo and fuelled 2.5 million turnarounds. Customers include Air Canada, Air France-KLM, American Airlines, EasyJet, IAG, Qantas Group, Qatar Airways, Southwest, United Airlines and WizzAir.

Following the takeover, the combined business is expected to handle in excess of 600,000 aircraft turns a year at more than 250 airports.